Tag: Maldives Hotel Reviews View All Tags
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Maldives Hotel Reviews / Taj Hotels / → All Tags
Cubicle Dreamin': Annabel's Very Own Blue Lagoon
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Annabel escape the bitter chill of London. Enjoy.
As the London days get shorter and the winter chill begins to set in, I can't help but question why I left the shores of sunny Australia. Thankfully I'm headed home for Christmas for a month of beach (ok, bayside) bliss, but I can't help wishing that I could make a detour in the Maldives for a holiday of the more indulgent variety.
Encircled by the clear blue waters of one of the largest lagoons of the Maldives, the Taj Exotica Resort and Spa is just a 15 minute luxury speedboat ride from the Malè International Airport (no taxis here, folks), and each suite features its very own private plunge pool.
Open seven days a week, the adjoining spa offers authentic Indian treatments and includes a Yoga and Meditation Pavilion, a VIP Spa Suite and two over-water luxurious Couple spa suites should you be lucky enough to have an amorous partner in tow.
With rates starting from $330 US per person, per night, however my bed at home is unfortunately looking like the more realistic destination for the time being.
[Photo: J+B=Us]
Related Stories:
· Hotels in the Maldives [HotelChatter]
Tags: Hilton Hotels / Maldives Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Hilton Maldives Offers Guests A Desert Island to Explore
Luxury hotels are getting more and more creative/insane with the hotel amenities that they can offer for their high-paying guests and the Hilton Maldives is no exception.
The hotel has picked up a nearby desert island (Huruelhi) and keeps it reserved for guests who want a "Robinson Crusoe" type of adventure for a day.
Never mind that the resort is already set on two bridge-linked islands. Or that the place has enough to keep you entertained with 10 restaurants and bars, an undersea restaurant, two spas, the infamous cheese "closet" with 130 cheeses and all sorts of water activities from snorkeling to deep-sea fishing.
Still, if you want more the hotel will send you out to the desert island, Huruelhi for some exploring and set up a picnic lunch/dinner for you. Aside from the "desert island" cool factor, you might find yourselves more entertained back at the resort. Just wait 45 minutes after eating all the cheese before you go swimming.
NOTE: The Hilton Maldives will be rebranded as a Conrad Resort this December.
[Photo: Pagalchkro]
Related Stories:
· Try 130 Cheeses at the Hilton Maldives [HotelChatter]
· Hotels in Maldives [HotelChatter]
Tags: Hotel Openings / Maldives Hotel Reviews / Hotel Infinity Pools / → All Tags
One More Infinity-Edge Pool in the Maldives at Naladhu
Will the Maldives ever reach saturation point when it comes to accommodation? Maybe, but certainly it hasn't yet. Another new resort has just hit the list of idyllic island resorts with the opening of Naladhu. It's pretty small: just one small island containing nineteen "houses" (why use the term "house", when you can have bungalow, cottage or any number of exotic names)? Each house is named after a plant from the Maldives, so you'll be able to tell your place apart from your neighbor's.
Like far too many Maldivian island resorts, Naladhu employed a copywriter for their website who was just far too free with their use of adjectives. So the marketing tells us this about Naladhu:
Free-flowing spaces. A symphony of rolling waves and rustling palms. The feel of warm, turquoise-blue lagoon waters and exotic Indian spice rubs. The familiar cool of hardwood floors and goose-down pillows. White clapboard shutters and infinity-edge plunge pools. The comforts you know and love. The romantic island getaway you've imagined.
Why the "familiar cool of hardwood floors" is the reason for us to go on holiday there isn't quite clear, but of course the all-the-rage infinity-edge plunge pools are definitely on our desirable list.
Related Stories:
· Naladhu Forum Discussion [TripAdvisor]
· Naladhu Opens in the Maldives [Luxist]
Tags: Overwater Bungalows / Honeymoon Resorts / Maldives Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Searching For The Perfect Overwater Bungalow:: For Londoners
As winter storms brew here in the Northeast, our search for the perfect overwater bungalow is intensifying. Know an overwater bungalow resort hotel we need to check out? Hit us on the tip line.
We have covered Baros before, however, when searching the world for the perfect overwater bungalow, neither the Maldives, nor Baros can be ignored.
Here is what we have learned over the years of telling and aggregating hotel stories--Londoners know their hotels.
That said, when discretionary holiday takers from the UK head for an over water bungalow experience many head to Baros. Not only do they head there, but they also return--a big deal when you are dropping that much scratch to go in the first place:
My husband and I have an agreement that we will never revisit our holiday destination, no matter how much we enjoy the place. However, for Baros, we have had to break that agreement, because we just enjoyed out holiday so much. We're going back in March, and I just cannot wait!
Click here and scroll down for a Baros propaganda video via YouTube.
[Photo: pixel_betty]
Tags: W Hotels / Maldives Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Get Whatever, Wherever When You Get to the W Maldives
We've raved on before about the idyllic beauty of the Maldives' W Retreat and Spa, and this week the Sydney Morning Herald did the same. Let's start with the negatives: it's outrageously expensive. But when you get past the money issue, it's nothing short of perfect. As SMH's Erin O'Dwyer begins:
There's nothing quite like drinking champagne in the bath. Especially if that bath is in a villa, on a coral reef, in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
She goes on to explain being met with fancy cocktails and a silent golf buggy to drive her to her villa, where relaxing music was playing as she arrived, and fudge and special Rocky Road chocolate were waiting for her (this is a big plus for us). Meals from six different restaurants sound like they actually defined mouth-watering, and to top it all off, the snorkelling tour shows the reviewer the best reef she's ever seen. What sounds especially nice is the resorts "whatever, wherever" policy:
Anything so long as it's legal, be it a champagne-filled bath or a wedding dress delivered in a helicopter..
We'd settle for just a couple of bottles of champagne and a few extra boxes of chocolates delivered by helicopter.
Related Stories:
· W Retreat and Spa reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Just Enjoy, Darling! [Sydney Morning Herald]
· Google Earth Hotels: W Maldives [HotelChatter]
· W Hotels Bring One Word Branding to the Maldives [HotelChatter]
Tags: Valentine's Day Hotels / Hotel Packages / Luxury Hotels / Maldives Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Valentine's Day Hotel Packages: The One & Only at Reethi Rah
Where: North Male Atoll, Maldives
Valentine's Day is a month away and if you want to impress your significant lover with a spectacular hotel stay, then you better get cracking. Luckily, we will make your job a little easier by featuring some hotel packages that we have heard about this week. Any tips or questions about how to romance your lover in a hotel (not sexually of course), send 'em our way and we'll do our best to answer them.
For a hotel chain that has a romantic name like One & Only, it is no surprise they have put together an exotic Valentine's Day Package.
At the One & Only Maldives at Reethi Rah, the hotel will offer you and your lover a choice of either private oceanfront dinners or a luxury catamaran ride, both of which will come with a handmade jewelry with precious gems that were specially made for this Valentine's Day.
The romantic dinner will start in a traditional dhoni boat that will take you to a private sandbank where you can enjoy rose' Champagne and a barbecue of native seafood cooked by a personal chef and served by a personal waiter. Pricetag: $2,000.
Another option is to charter the hotel's very own luxury catamaran where you can:
Drop anchor at any one of the neighboring islands and coral reefs and relax in the tropics sipping champagne while savoring the local cuisine from your on-board chef. Enjoy a four course menu before sailing back under the Maldivian stars to the comfort of your villa.
Pricetag: $1,300 is the starting rate per couple.
If you would rather stay closer to the hotel, a private Middle Eastern Sunset Barbeque dinner created by international chefs will whipped up for you and served in your beachfront villa complete with champagne and a personal butler. Pricetag: Varies.
Lastly,if you haven't spoiled your lover enough you can will also receive a piece of the resort's Anjara jewelry collection which was inspired by the "unique textures and colors of the Maldives." Pricetag: Thankfully, included.
Related Stories:
· One & Only at Reethi Rah reviews [TripAdvisor]
Tags: Maldives Hotel Reviews / Overwater Bungalows / Hotel Pools / Hotel Infinity Pools / → All Tags
Plunge Pools and Infinity Pools at Huvafen Fushi
A waking dream. Set within its own lagoon, Huvafen Fushi Maldives is a pristine island resort offering 43 naturally-modern bungalows. Home to the world's first underwater spa.
Okay, that's the website advertising, but it really does make the Huvafen Fushi resort on the Maldives sound like somewhere we really want to go, right now. Recently recommended in an Australian review, Huvafen Fushi has also made the Conde Nast hot list and the big plus for us is that every overwater bungalow and beachside villa comes with its very own plunge pool.
But if a plunge pool's not enough, perhaps you'll consider splashing out on the top-of-the-line Ocean Pavilions:
These face the sunset and are the last word in pampered luxury ... on entering the Pavilion you will be greeted with your fibre-optic lit infinity pool that flows seamlessly from indoors out blending effortlessly with the horizon.
And to think that we're sitting here in front of our computers instead of staring out at the pool/sea/horizon.
Related Stories:
· Huvafen Fushi reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Roads Best Taken [The Australian]
Tags: Maldives Hotel Reviews / British Hotel Favorites / → All Tags
When The Brits Go Maldives
Face it, folks from the UK are smarter than the rest of us. Um, at least if you speak in short, quick sentences with a British accent you can fool most people into thinking you are the smartest person in the room. If you combine a British accent with hipster glasses you can quickly develop a cult following, but we digress.
Point is, when the Brits go Maldives they head to Baros in droves.
Baros is the third oldest resort in the Maldives and the property recently underwent renovations. These days, travelers are evenly split on the resort: New skool fans can't get enough of it and old skool fans want the old Baros back.
A couple years back the resort was completely rebuilt adding many modern, locally styled overwater bungalows. The old skool gripes about the look of the renovations, but we suspect the 40% post renovation price increase is what really gets under their skin.
The new skool loves the indoor/outdoor glass shower which allows guests to check out the sea while washing up and the new modern facilities.
Though the tall wooden spire of Baros's Lighthouse restaurant should give it away, we couldn't find the resort on Google Earth. Here is the map of the Maldives, if you find it do us a favor and leave the link in comments, or send it our way. Thanks.
Yes, we know, our Maldives travel crush is getting out of control.
Related Stories:
· Baros Reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Maldives Hotel Reviews [HotelChatter]
Tags: Maldives Hotel Reviews / Golf Resorts / One & Only Resorts / → All Tags
Maldives Resort Allows You To Live Out A Golf Fantasy
Our Maldives obsession is getting out of control.
We just heard that the One and Only Kanuhura allows golf hacks to drive balls off a resort owned jetty, Kramer style (pre-racist tirade), straight into the Indian Ocean.
Don't worry, the golf balls are biodegradable, and dissolve in about four days, so no fish will be harmed. However, four days is still plenty of time to clog a whale's blowhole, and do major damage, if there isn't a marine biologist nearby.
Seriously though, we are raising the paradise level on the Maldives from yellow to orange.
[Photo: db1874]
Tags: Maldives Hotel Reviews / Google Earth / → All Tags
Google Earth Hotels: Soneva Gili Resort Maldives
Yup, still addicted to Google Earth Maldives flyovers.
Our Maldives destination crush enabled us to spend some time checking out the Soneva Gili Resort in all its overwater bungalow glory.
The forty-four stilted accommodations, its own dive school only twenty minutes from Male airport by speedboat and the resort assigns each guest a rep to take care of all their needs--no we have no idea if these reps will serve as your therapist while you are on vacation.
Each guest is assigned a rep who looks after all your needs during your stay. They will book anything you would like to do, massage in the Spa, water sports, snorkling, excursions etc. We booked the private island dining experience on our one month anniversary and it was an experience never to forget. We were transferred to small neighboring island for sunset drinks, a private buffet and after dinner drinks. It was incredible.
See that arc of seven overwater bungalows at the top of the photo? Those are 250 square foot Crusoe Residences, only reachable by private boat. We are sure the resort doesn't make you row out to those villas...right? No way they make you row. Oh, wait, couldn't you just have your assigned personal assistant do it?
Related Stories:
· Soneva Gili Resort Google Earth [Google Maps]
· Soneva Gili Resort reviews [TripAdvisor]
Tags: Google Earth Hotels / Maldives Hotel Reviews / One and Only Resorts / Island Resorts / Overwater Bungalows / → All Tags
Google Earth Hotels: One and Only Kanuhara
Ok, so this week we are seriously addicted to Google Earth Maldives flyovers.
Just spotted the One & Only Kanuhura in all its overwater bungalow glory.
These water villas come with large outdoor decks, plasma televisions, and an outdoor shower.
Why would you need giant plasma tvs to ogle during your stay in paradise? It makes paying $8 for a tiny bottle of water at the beach more acceptable. Wait a second, not it doesn't. Free the water One & Only. Your resort is obviously paradise, and you can charge a pretty penny for a week in paradise, so free the water--it aches to be free.
24/7 babysitting is also available at Kanuhura, which means family travelers can rejoice, while couples should not expect the resort to be free of little ones.
After the jump we have included One & Only Kanuhura's official resort map to prove how kick ass we are at finding things on Google Earth. Yeah, it is sad. This Google Earth thing is becoming an addiction.
Related Stories:
· One & Only on Google Earth [Google Maps]
· One & Only Kanuhara Reviews [TripAdvisor]
Tags: W Maldives / Island Resort Reviews / Honeymoon Hotels / Maldives Hotel Reviews / Overwater Bungalows / → All Tags
Google Earth Hotels: W Maldives
Where: North Ari Atoll, North Ari Atoll
More on W Maldives--
Ok, we effectively killed the last hour or so trying to spot the Fesdu Island & the W Maldives Retreat & Spa on Google Earth.
Using context clues left by both W's airbrushed website photos and a British dive hound website, we think we found it.
Remember, we are dealing with shaky satellite imagery and the extremely real possibility that W Maldives construction had not even started when the Google Earth photos were shot.
All that said, W Maldives is on Fesdu Island, located smack dab in the middle of the North Ari Atoll, to the west of Malé, the capital of Maldives. You have to fly in a freakin' sea plane to actually stay here. A sea plane--god that sounds decadent.
Fesdu is a small island you can walk around in 10 minutes, the island has palm trees on the beach--sounds like Tom Hanks in Castaway, doesn't it?
If you take a Google Earth spin around the area you will see plenty of Castaway-like islands to choose from, many with over-water bungalows.
Obviously, if you dispute our mapping skills, tell us. Oh, and if you are lucky enough to check out W Maldives live and in person, send along photos and reviews.
Gratz.
Related Stories:
·W Maldives Map [Google Maps]
· Fesdu [Scuba-Addict.com]
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